Much of today's integrated circuit technology involves the fabrication of semiconductor devices on (100) silicon substrates. Complex circuits made up of thousands of transistors, rectifiers, capacitors and resistors can be formed on a tiny area of the substrate to perform a vast variety of complex electronic functions.
Electrical contacts--both ohmic and rectifying--are fundamental to integrated circuits. High quality ohmic contacts are needed to permit further reduction in contact size, and high quality Schottky (rectifying) contacts are needed for low power dissipation rectifiers.